On Monday, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that he believed he had enough votes to pass House Republicans’ debt ceiling resolution.
McCarthy noted that he thinks there are 218 lawmakers willing to sign on to the resolution, which he said contains measures that would limit the federal government’s spending, save taxpayers’ money and “grow the economy.”
The House Speaker unveiled the framework for House Republicans’ debt ceiling resolution during a speech at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, which was his 100th day as speaker.
Soon after his speech, CNN Senior Capitol Hill reporter Haley Talbot tweeted that McCarthy had told the outlet: “I think we got 218 to raise the debt ceiling.”
“We’ve got a lot of consensus within the conference. We’ll get together and work through it,” McCarthy added, according to the reporter.
Speaker McCarthy tells @CNN he has 218 votes on his plan to raise debt ceiling for 1 yr w a slew of cuts+revenue raisers
"I think we got 218 to raise the debt ceiling" McCarthy said
"We've got a lot of consensus within the conference. We'll get together and work through it"
— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotcnn) April 17, 2023
The House Speaker also sent out a tweet about the resolution, writing: “As we confront the consequences of President Biden’s extreme, reckless spending, Congressional Republicans are ready to act—and to lead.”
As we confront the consequences of President Biden’s extreme, reckless spending, Congressional Republicans are ready to act—and to lead.
✅ Limit Washington spending
✅ Save taxpayers money
✅ Grow the economy pic.twitter.com/0opvoqgEjU— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 17, 2023
During his speech at the stock exchange, McCarthy vowed that he will not allow the Biden administration’s plan to raise the debt ceiling without conditions to move forward. President Joe Biden has consistently demanded that House Republicans allow him to raise the debt ceiling without a fight, and has said that he will not commit to any concessions about cutting the federal government’s out-of-control spending.
“Let me be clear, A no-strings-attached debt limit increase will not pass,” McCarthy stated. “But since the president continues to hide, House Republicans will take action. So here’s our plan, in the coming weeks the House will vote on a bill to lift the debt ceiling into the next year, save taxpayers trillions of dollars, make us less dependent upon China, curve our high inflation, all without touching Social Security and Medicare. Simply put, it puts us on a fiscally responsible path in three ways: It limits, it saves, and it grows.”
Here's the plan:
The House will vote on a bill to lift the debt ceiling into next year, save taxpayers trillions of dollars, make us less dependent on China, and curb high inflation—all without touching Social Security or Medicare. pic.twitter.com/yCE9WvFb0R
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 17, 2023
He went on to emphasize that the resolution would return “the federal government to 2022 levels and then limit the growth of spending over the next ten years to one percent of annual growth.”
Despite the left’s best attempts at smearing Republicans for trying to rein in federal spending, the fact that the resolution’s “spending levels” are no different than the ones passed by the Democrat-controlled House in October proves that they are lying — and thus McCarthy said that Americans should not “believe anyone that tells you these are draconian limits.”
If Biden and the Democrats want to spend more, McCarthy has warned them that they will have to make spending cuts elsewhere to compensate.
“But the bloated overflow bureaucracy that has expanded under President Biden needs to be probed and that’s exactly what we’ll do,” he said. “If Washington wants to spend more, it will have to come together to find savings elsewhere. Just like every single American household does every single day. This will restore discipline to Washington, budgeting, and help put an end to the reckless spending that caused inflation.”
“We owe it to our children to save money everywhere,” McCarthy added, noting that the “proposal will examine wasteful Washington spending and executive overreach in all forms.”
Alongside vowing to cut spending, House Republicans also plan to “call back tens of billions of dollars in COVID-related money,” the House Speaker said.
“If the money was authorized to fight the pandemic but was not spent during the pandemic, it should not be spent after the pandemic is over,” McCarthy argued.
Ultimately, the House Republicans’ resolution aims to grow the U.S. economy by restoring the country’s status as a leader in the energy sector — along with bringing “jobs back to America” and implementing stricter work requirements.
“Our proposal will also restore work requirements that ensure able-bodied adults without dependents earn a paycheck and learn new skills,” McCarthy said. “That will grow our economy and help the supply chain. Right now, there are more job openings than people who are looking for jobs. You know why? It’s in part because the Biden Administration weakened work requirements. incentives matter and the incentives today are out of whack. It’s time to get Americans back to work.”
“Don’t believe anyone who says our plans hurt America’s social safety net,” he warned. “We’re a very generous nation, and when people fall on tough times, we’ll help them. That will not change. But this is important, assistant programs are supposed to be temporary not permanent. A hand-up not a hand-out. A bridge to end dependence, not a barrier.”
“Just as Ronald Regan understood the importance of economic growth, we should welcome and celebrate the benefits of a strong, growing economy,” McCarthy added. “For with a strong, growing economy, we will no longer be dependent on China, we will no longer be victims to inflation, and we can protect and preserve social security and Medicare.”
The House Speaker also revealed that the White House has refused to reach out to him to discuss the debt ceiling in the months after his February 1 meeting with Biden on the matter.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has called for the president to engage in negotiations with McCarthy.
“President Biden does not get to stick his fingers in his ears and refuse to listen, talk or negotiate … The White House needs to stop wasting time and start negotiating with the speaker of the House,” McConnell said, according to Punchbowl News’ senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio.
McConnell backs up McCarthy on debt limit:
“President Biden does not get to stick his fingers in his ears and refuse to listen, talk or negotiate… The White House needs to stop wasting time and start negotiating with the speaker of the House.”
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) April 17, 2023
